It was so smoky in Oakland when I got off BART Friday night that it was making me almost sick to bicycle, so I rode a few blocks south to CAMPOVIDA winery's new tasting room on Linden Street in West Oakland. The owners were there, and they were great hosts (they had opened early for another couple!). Highlights: A chablis-esque steely Chardonnay which I really enjoyed, a salmon colored, bone dry, and saline Rose of Grenache, a fine Nero D'Avola with a bracing (and enjoyable) bitter note and a great Arneis. All Mendocino grapes, many vineyards they use are biodynamic but all are organic. A very fine project! And the smoke was almost completely clear by the time I was ready to bicycle back to my starting point!

Saint Supery in Rutherford-what a beautiful winery setting. "Joe" was behind the bar...an older gentleman whose schtick is to be the vocal, funny type of "old dude". I really like their pungeant Sauvignon Blanc...it has some guts. And they had a inky black, tannic, and almost fuzzy Petit Verdot that I really liked! The Cabernet Franc was definitely true to the grape and quite nice...especially, I imagine, with a couple of years on it????

Three Wine Company "Evanghelo Vineyard" Zinfandel (Contra Costa County). 120+ year old grapes. Mat Cline was wine maker. Definitely some brilliant berry fruit, but there was also some nice herbal notes and a wonderful mouth feel to this old vine zin. I enjoy Matt Cline's wine quite a bit! And it went very well with spaghetti and sausage!

...(Humans) are unique in our capacity to construct realities at utter odds with reality. Dogs dream and dolphins imagine, but only humans are deluded. –Jacob Bacharach

The Campovida wines sound intriguing. Saint Supery was my first favorite among California Sauvignon Blanc. It has increased some in price over the years and I'm not sure the local grocery stores still carry it but I may check next time I shop.